1936 - Milan township, DeKalb county, Illinois plat map

Here is the 1936 Milan township, DeKalb county, Illinois plat map.

 

The Browne school is located in the upper right hand corner, Section 1.    All 9 rural schools are represented by a black dot.

The plat maps of the 1930's across the nation are interesting as they slowly begin to tell the story of The Great Depression as properties were lost to the banks due to foreclosure.     Many life insurance companies also held the notes on the properties which is reflected in the ownership names on some of the above properties.

Also of note, regarding the Browne school namesake, the property owned by Lester Browne is now in the possession of Henry B Babson (Section 11 and 12) and the property previously owned by William Browne, passed onto his son, John Theron Browne is now in the possession of his youngest daughter, Elizabeth Aska (Section 11).

Henry Babson's obituary relays the history of his property acquisitions during The Great Depression.